How served: 750ml caged and cork bottle poured into a La Trappe chalice.

My Overall Opinion: Very Good

I paired this beer with: Fish stew topped with an Irish sharp cheddar and served with bread made with Sierra Nevada Bigfoot.

Tasted on: Thursday December 15, 2011

Notes: La Trappe is 1 of the 7 Trappist Breweries and the only one found outside of Belgium.

This was bottled in 2009. Batch 13:38 K05F9

The beer poured a hazy light orange with a 1 and a half finger fluffy off white head which dissipated before I was a quarter of the way down the glass leaving a minimal lacing.

The nose of this beer was of sweet caramel, toffee, bready yeast, plums, raisins and candi sugar.

The taste started off mildly sweet with toffee, caramel, raisins and plums, mid way through I got some spices which included hints of cinnamon and it ended on the dry side.

The body with a thin to medium and coated my mouth with a mild oily slickness with moderate carbonation and finished with a pleasant warmth from the alcohol.

The drinkability was very good. I’m very glad that they (La Trappe) decided to make this a year round brew, instead of the intended one off brew.

On the Label: The monks of Brewery de Koningshoeven have been brewing La Trappe beer for a living since 1884. La Trappe Isid’or has been specially created to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Brewery de Koningshoeven. This ceremonial beer was named after Brother Isidorus, the first brewer of La Trappe.

To mark the 125th anniversary of the Trappist brewery, a special anniversary beer was brewed in 2009. This Trappist beer was named after Isidorus, the first brewer in the abbey O.L.V. van Koningshoeven. It was intended that this beer would only be brewed in the anniversary year. However, Isid’or was so well received that Abbot Bernardus decided to adopt this Trappist beer into the permanent range.

In 2009, it has been 125 years since friar Isidorus Laaber hesitantly, with successes and setbacks, started what is now a stunning product. To commemorate this fact, we are releasing a special-occasion beer for the international market in this jubilee year. It is obvious that the beer will carry the name of our first brewing master. It is a homage to this simple friar with his golden hands, who made our brewery, and thus also our monastery, famous.

As always, part of the profits of La Trappe will go to the monasteries in Indonesia and Uganda, which were set up by Koningshoeven. The profit of La Trappe Isid’or will go entirely to the co-friars in Uganda. Since they fled the violence in Kenya in 2008, they have had to start from scratch in Uganda. With the profit of La Trappe Isid’or, the community there will be able to build a new monastery and find a new source of income.

La Trappe Isid’or is a lightly sweet amber beer with a hint of caramel. The beer tastes softly bitter and has a fruity aftertaste. La Trappe Isid’or is brewed with the self-cultivated Perle hop.